Why 2004 is considered craziest year in football history

By Peter Ochieng

Several unexpected occurrences were witnessed on football pitches especially in Europe in 2004, making pundits to brand it one of the craziest years in football history.

It all revolved around underdogs causing upsets in classic ‘David versus Goliath,’ examples. Let us roll:

1. Invincible Arsenal

21 years ago, Arsenal won the English Premier League title unbeaten – the only team to achieve that feat to date.

Imagine a team going 38 league matches without a defeat? Arsenal did it.

The Gunners under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger won 26 matches and drew 12, in the process scoring 73 goals while conceding 27, garnering 90 points; 11 ahead of second placed Chelsea.

Star striker Thierry Henry scored 30 league goals, while goalkeeper Jens Lehmann kept a league high of 15 clean sheets enroute to the title.

Arsenal is yet to win another Premier League title.

2. Surprise package Werder Bremen

With 33 Bundesliga championships, Bayern Munich are the indisputable champions of the Germany topflight league.

However, in 2004, Bayern’s party was spoiled by a not so well fancied Werder Bremen side, which raced to the Bundesliga title with 74 points, four ahead of second placed Bayern.

The underdogs won 22 games, drew 8 and lost 4 enroute to the title. The team was managed by Thomas Schaaf. Brazilian striker Aílton was the star of the season, scoring 28 goals.

3. Sevilla surprises Real Madrid, Barcelona

The Spanish La Liga has for years been dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona, with only Atletico Madrid managing to break their stronghold on the league title in the recent past.

21 years ago, a little-known Sevilla side managed by Rafael Benitez – who later on coached Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Millan among others won the La Liga title.

The club managed to garner 77 points in 38 fixtures, finishing 5 points ahead of heavyweights Sevilla.

Deportivo La Coruna finished 3rd with 71 points, while Real Madrid ended the campaign at position 4 with 70 points.

Sevilla claimed a La Liga and Europa League double in 2004, before Benitez left to join Liverpool in 2005, guiding the Reds to the Champions League title.

4. FC Porto’s moment of glory

Portuguese side FC Porto became the 2004 Champions League surprise package defeating France side AS Monaco 3-0 in the final.

And guess who was FC Porto’s manager? The legendary Jose Mourinho. Before defeating Monaco, Porto had dumped Manchester United out of the competition.

The final – pitying Monaco against Porto was a battle of the underdogs, breaking the tradition of powerhouses meeting in the Champions League final.

Whereas Porto was managed by Mourinho – currently guiding Fenerbahçe in Turkey after stints with Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United, AS Roma and Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco was under the tutelage of Didier Deschamps, the current French national team coach.

5. Greece beats Portugal twice to claim EURO title

Portugal hosted the 2004 EURO edition. With the likes of champions league winners Deco and Carvalho, Real Madrid ace Figo and a youngster Cristiano Ronaldo in its ranks, all odds were for the hosts to win the title.

However, underdogs Greece had other ideas. The two teams formed part and parcel of Group A. Greece defeated Portugal in the group stage, and repeated the achievement in the final to claim the title.